Years ago, most businesses did not have a vision or a mission for their companies. It was simply a matter of “blocking and tackling” your team through wins as the company grew (you buy more machines as the customers come). Now, most businesses are caught up in the Wall Street mindset that if you are not growing, you are dying. Should every manufacturing company have this mindset or can we do better? Do you have at least a loose vision or mission for your company? Where do you see the company in 5 years or in 10 years? How do you define staying where you are? - # of machines, sales, profit, employees, customers? for JZ, a couple metrics: sales, profit, # of vending integration systems that we are serving, customer retention Do prospective customers look at your business in terms of size and gage whether they want to do business with you? The wrong ways to grow 1. Using supplier credit to grow and not having a financing plan for growth • Instead: Have a financing plan for growth, talk to your bank, and learn about the proper way to borrow money in order to achieve your goals. 2. Taking on low margin business to build your business or to just get in the door • What happens? • Can’t make money on the job • Late on the job ! • Quality is subpar • Can’t do the job efficiently End-users have become smarter about this and many are now working with their existing suppliers to find out where they can partner and be strategic to remove costs out of the manufacturing processes (another good subject for the future). In our Manufacturing News segment, we discuss women in manufacturing (again). There is a push in the Milwaukee market for welders. A 24 year old single mother with no intention to get into manufacturing is pitched to pursue a manufacturing career. ”This is so cool, I am actually creating my own art.” She is enjoying what she is creating, making good money and able to support her family. In our Metalworking Tools segment, we discuss the Widia Victory versus Value lines and why a company would utilize this model.